Unusual Legal Cases

Of course, we all had our customer service issues. But who would have thought that the phrase “satisfaction guaranteed” could trigger a multi-million dollar legal battle? Two years later, Pearson opted for a nice round number. The explanation for the $67 million he sued included emotional damages, legal fees (although he represents himself), ten years of car rental fees so he could go to another dry cleaner, and the $395 from the pants themselves. Not only did Pearson lose the case, but he also had to pay the defendants` legal fees, and a court recommended that Pearson not be sentenced to ten years in prison on the bench. Discover the precedents of 10 bizarre historical court cases that were actually important and 10 strange Supreme Court cases with lasting implications. In today`s contentious environment, some cases stand out because they are so absurd. 24/7 Tempo searched the online archives of various news sites to find 25 examples. In the second half of this list, we look at some of the most unpleasant (though still strange) cases that the law has had to deal with. Re A was a case in England in 2001 where twin twins – Gracie and Rosie – were born on their stomachs, with Rosie relying on Gracie to oxygenate her blood. With the surgical separation, Gracie had a high probability of survival, but Rosie would die.

But if they stayed connected, it was unlikely that the twins would see their first birthday. After a long investigation, it turned out that the house had burned down in an arson attack. Presho sued the hotel`s owner, Patrick Doohan, and although the arson could not be proven to have been perpetrated by Doohan, Presho was awarded damages for trespassing and disturbance, as Doohan was clearly responsible for removing the remains of the house and benefited from its destruction. In 2013, Presho said: “The island is beautiful. What happened to the house on the island is very sad and caused me a lot of trouble. But at the end of the day, you just have to forgive everyone because you can`t keep everything. Did these strange and wonderful cases make you curious to learn more about the law? Then you should now check out our introductory law and law school preparation courses! Photo credit: Lady Justice; casebooks; Cricket; Contract; Pringles; Surgeon; Turnips; Silver fox; Cliff; Geode; empty field. It`s hard to believe that someone can win a case because they were hurt by entering someone else`s property. But that`s exactly what happened to two teenagers from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, who were badly burned in a parked car in 2002. While skateboarding, Jeffrey Kline and Brett Birdwell illegally entered an Amtrak and Norfolk Southern Corp. property and boarded a freight car, hoping to get a glimpse of the city. An uninsulated wire suspended above the train shook Klein with 12,500 volts of electricity and caused severe burns to 75 percent of his body.

Birdwell suffered burns to more than 12% of his body while running to help his friend, whose clothes were on fire. A court has ruled against a dissatisfied customer of a dry cleaner in Washington, D.C. – who sued the dry cleaners for $54 million for allegedly misplacing his pants – and ordered him to pay the company his legal fees. The customer, Administrative Judge Roy Pearson, also failed to prove that the store had lost his pants. Pearson`s lawsuit was based on the assertion that the store`s sign stated “satisfaction guaranteed.” The case attracted national attention and sympathy for the defendants, who received online funds for their defense. As incredible as these trials may seem, they are all real. Which one is scratching your head? Have we omitted lawsuits that should have made our list of 8 hilarious but true court cases that you won`t believe? If so, share your comments below. And remember, if you need a technical or forensic expert, remember that we at Ivey Engineering. We offer services in more than 30 states. Living in a country with a well-established justice system provides an opportunity to use the courts to get justice for all the wrongs people see. While most cases are justified, the injustices being pursued are sometimes not what most people would consider unjust. The downside is that some of these lawsuits end up being material for late-night comedians.

Facts. History of the procedure. Exhibit. Rule. Possession. Dissenting agreements or opinions. I have used this case formula hundreds of times during my three years in law school, and I am afraid that it will be permanently etched in my brain. Most of the cases I have briefed have long since escaped me, but others. Well, others were so weird that they still remember telling my friends and family about it! If you`re a law student looking for cases worth sharing with your family at home during a phone call, here are five bizarre cases you need to read. Undeterred, the judge sued the Chung and his son, saying that the “Satisfaction Guaranteed” and “Same Day Service” signs displayed in the store constituted an “unconditional guarantee” that entitles him to a much larger settlement. Pearson charged $1,500 per accused for each of the estimated 12,000 days the signs appeared in the cleanup.

The judge`s claims also included emotional damage, the cost of a rental car used to drive another dry cleaner and attorneys` fees — though Pearson represented himself. The total amount of the claim? A whopping $67 million, which was later reduced to a still outrageous $54 million. You might think that harassment cases are just neighbors whose music is too loud, or that contract law is about businessmen trying to outdo themselves in a deal, but it can be so much stranger and so much more fun than that. Often the really bizarre cases are the ones that you will end up looking at as well, because they are the ones that the law did not plan for and that raised questions and problems that had not been raised before. In this article, we`ll look at some of the funniest, weirdest, and most entertaining cases you`re likely to encounter when you start law school – hopefully this whets your appetite for more. A 15-year-old boy in Spain sued his mother, claiming he was abused after she took his mobile phone to get him to study. He also sought a prison sentence for his mother and reimbursement of his legal costs. A judge ruled in the mother`s favor, saying she was within her rights and acted responsibly to get her son to crack the books. The modern English legal system in its present form did not emerge overnight. English case law has evolved over the centuries into the complex and complicated body of law we find today, so it can be very difficult to keep up. Jesse Dimmick, a fugitive accused of murder, kidnapped a Kansas couple in September 2009. Eventually, he fell asleep and they escaped.

They sued Dimmick for more than $75,000 in damages. His answer was a counterclaim for breach of contract. He claimed that he and the couple had reached a legally binding verbal agreement to hide him from the police. His action was dismissed. After more than ten days, the crew discussed drawing lots to choose a victim to kill and devour to survive. As the youngest crew member, Richard Parker, had become so ill that they believed he was close to death, crew members Edwin Stephens and Tom Dudley eventually killed Parker by inserting a knife into his jugular vein.